Luis Martinez
Updated Wednesday, March 27, 2024-21:29
Club Zero Review: When metaphors make you fat until starvation (**)
Review The successor: Oedipus and the disastrous adventures of the patriarchy (****)
Criticism The Abbess: religion as liberation and anachrony (***)
As is known, in the painting
The School of Athens,
by Raphael, Plato points to the sky and Aristotle, with
Ethics
in hand, asks for calm and, more modestly, settles for the ground. That, which historically has passed for a fine allegory about idealism versus realism, was in truth always a joke; a philosophical joke.
He never had grace, but he did have virtue
. And this is a theological joke; a type of joke that should not be confused with communist jokes, which, as is known, are only funny if everyone likes them. And so.
There is a moment in
Puan
in which the philosophy professor who acts as the protagonist explains to a not so venerable old woman (but indecently rich, yes) the concept of Heideggerian
Dasein
. Shortly before or shortly after, the lady falls in love with the precision of the neologism. And she falls asleep, of course. Let's say that's the level. Philosophical jokes are like that and it is not advisable to ask them for more than they are capable of giving. Let's say that on that note the entire philosophical comedy by Argentines
María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat
is refined , which takes its name from the headquarters of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in Buenos Aires where it takes place. The most excellent, enigmatic and influential of the thinkers of the 20th century turned into a simple excuse to entertain the bourgeoisie that was too bored, too lazy and too wealthy.
There are several ways to confront
Puan
. And all (or almost all) work accurately. A) As a challenge, it is about making one joke after another where
the place of the mythical Jaimito (or whoever) is now occupied by Hobbes, Rousseau, Sartre or the aforementioned Heidegger.
Also Plato. And Aristotle. B) As a metaphor for existence (like this, in general), the idea is to make mud with the absurdity of seeing the most noble branches of thought converted into a battlefield where the most basic passions are settled: vanity , envy or resentment. And C) as an x-ray of the Argentine situation today, the certainty is valid that the precision and brilliance of the argument does not matter, the one who shouts the loudest wins. Things of desperation.
The story of Marcelo is told, played by Marcelo Subiotto, a philosophy professor designated (or condemned, depending on how you look at it) to be the successor of the lifelong professor. When the latter dies suddenly, he will be surprised to attend his defenestration because of a young and seductive colleague from Europe (here, Leonardo Sbaraglia). To continue with the metaphor above, the first points to the sky, bald as he is, and the second settles for the ground. One idealist, the other calculating and realistic.
Of María Alché, in addition to appearing in Lucrecia Martel's
The Holy Girl
, we especially knew the film
Familia submerged
as the quintessence of hypnosis brought to the screen. By Benjamín Naishtat, the just before was an atmospheric and poisonous
thriller
of cross references (postmodern in its own way) sunk in Argentina in the 70s that went by the name
Rojo
. If we apply Aristotelian logic (sorry),
there is no possible form or syllogism that leads, neither through it nor through it, to the comedy with an Italian flavor
(due to its verbosity) that now makes an appearance.
And, despite everything, no one can accuse them of not knowing and masterfully applying the
tempos
required by the genre.
Puan
becomes entangled in human miseries while she lulls the viewer to sleep with the clearest and noblest reasoning. And in the contrast she manages to create a nice mess in which no one goes unpunished: neither the rich without conscience nor the poor with conscience nor those in the middle who have already ceased to exist.
You could say that it is an Aristotelian comedy, because it is precise and measured, but with a Platonic heart, because it is idealistic and even candid.
But there are problems and one no less is the sustained effort to be tremendously intelligent with every step he takes. It exhausts this constant effort to appear, perhaps ashamed, to be something else, much higher, than the comedy that it ultimately is. Philosophical jokes are like that.
--
Direction
: María Alché, Benjamín Naishtat.
Performers
: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Marcelo Subiotto, Julieta Zylberberg, Alejandra Flechner, Cristina Banegas.
Duration
: 111 minutes. Argentina Nationality.